Thanks to Indian gaming, tribes have emerged as major players in Washington, D.C. In the past two election cycles alone, tribes poured $13.8 million into Republican and Democrat interests, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. But this figure doesn't...

A federal judge is set to determine whether land purchased by the Cayuga Nation of New York is Indian Country. The tribe bought land in its ancestral territory and has opened a bingo hall, convenience store and gas stations. The...

With the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository way behind schedule, efforts are underway in Congress to develop interim sites like the one proposed by the Skull Valley Goshute Tribe of Utah. The tribe is seeking to store up to 44,000...

Navajo women imprisoned at Fort Sumner in New Mexico, circa 1864-1868. Photo New Mexico State Museum. More than a century after the U.S. Army forced thousands of Navajos and Mescalero Apaches to walk hundreds of miles across New Mexico,...

The World Prayer and Peace Run, a long-distance relay aimed at promoting spiritual and cultural traditions among Native youth, is nearing its final destination. Runners from four parts of the U.S. have been making their way to the Black Hills...

Controversial University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill is being reviewed by a disciplinary panel to determine whether he committed fraud through his academic works and claims of Indian heritage. Rather than wait for the review to be completed, The...

The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of South Dakota still needs more than $1 million to build a temporary dormitory to replace the one that was destroyed by a fire in April. The Bush administration promised $1.3 million but only $900,000...

The Porcupine Grant School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota has seen a rise in enrollment that has put additional strains on decades-old buildings. Enrollment has grown 63 percent in the last 10 years, The Sioux Falls Argus...

"After 27 years of doing my job, I have decided it is time to air my feelings on what is happening to the education of our American Indian children in this country. It has become apparent that nationally, Indian education...

The former housing director for the Tulalip Tribes of Washington was sentenced to three years of probation for embezzling $23,500. Dale Jones, 62, will spend six months of his sentence in home confinement. He was ordered to perform 200 hours...

Federal prosecutors have dropped their request for DNA samples from teens who have been called before a grand jury investigating the March 21, 2005, shootings on the Red Lake Ojibwe Reservation in Minnesota. Prosecutors gave no reason for dropping their...

"[Ponca Chief] Standing Bear was a Nebraskan. He represented the good things about our state n resourcefulness, good citizenry, respect of nature and a sense of home. Unfortunately, with our new quarter selection, school children throughout the United States...

"Into the West" a six-part mini-series about the lives of an Indian and non-Indian family will debut next week, June 10, on Turner Network Television. Reviews of the series are starting to come in. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel calls it...

The Navajo Nation Council voted 59-14 on Friday to override President Joe Shirley Jr.'s veto of a bill to ban same-sex marriage on the reservation. The council needed 59 votes to override the veto. Delegate Larry Anderson, the original sponsor...

"Oh, how delicious, thought those politicians marked with the scarlet "D" in Republican-held Washington: Powerful GOP rainmaker Jack Abramoff has fallen, and landed dangerously close to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Lobbyist Abramoff, now infamous for funneling money from Indian...

Republican strategists are beginning to worry that Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) is being hurt by news coverage and constituent concerns over his role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, The Washington Post reports. Ney worked closely with Abramoff on...

Republican activist Ralph Reed helped disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff play tribes against each other, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Reed organized campaigns in Texas and Alabama that benefited Abramoff's wealthy gaming tribes. On the other side were tribes that were...

The outgoing chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of Lousiana paid $25,000 to attend a White House meeting organized by a Republican anti-tax activist. Lovelin Poncho's signature is on the check for the Americans for Tax Reform, The Lake Charles...

The former police chief of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana was elected chairman in an election that almost didn't happen. Kevin Sickey won 258 out of 297 votes, or 87 percent. He defeated vice council member William Worfel in a...

"My Social Security "statement" arrived in the mail last week. The paper estimates benefits for my early retirement, full retirement (for me, that is supposed to be available at 66 years and 6 months) as well as projections for disability...